Rick Dutczak, owner of Karl Business Machines, typing on an IBM Selectric 1 that was rented to Oscar-nominated “Hidden Figures.” The same typewriter was used by actress Taraji P. Henson and appears at the end of the film.
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HAMILTON >> Props from a township store played a role in “Hidden Figures.”

The film that was nominated for three Oscars on Tuesday, including Best Picture, rented 13 vintage typewriters from Hamilton-based Karl Business Machines that appear throughout the movie.

One, a IBM Selectric 1, even made a supporting role appearance with main character Taraji P. Henson at the end of the film that excited Karl Business Machines owner Rick Dutczak when he went to see the movie with his wife.

“She was typing and they were actually filming the words coming out of the typewriter and on the paper,” Dutczak said Tuesday in a phone interview. “Also, in the first five minutes of the movie, they showed a room with the typewriters.”

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Dutczak, who took over the business from his dad, jokingly admits the typewriters “didn’t” play a role in the Oscar nominations.

“They’re great actors and everybody behind the movie did a fabulous job,” he said of the movie about female African-American NASA mathematicians in the 1960s.

Dutczak has been shipping his typewriters for movie productions since 2011.

The first movie a typewriter from Karl Business Machines appeared in was “Men in Black III.”

Since then, the vintage typewriters have been seen in “The Hunt with John Walsh,” “Red Oaks,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Deuce,” a Land Rover commercial, and at Bud Light Super Bowl party. A dozen more will be on display in an upcoming movie about the 1967 Detroit riots.

“Surprisingly enough, last year, we did so many,” Dutczak said. “There’s not a whole lot of people anymore on this trade.”

Dutczak’s dad opened the business in the same Hamilton location in 1976. When his dad retired in 1987, the younger Dutczak took over the store that he had worked at since he was 16. The store sells, repairs and rents typewriters.

Like records, Dutczak believes there is a newfound appeal of vintage typewriters.

“A lot of people are interested in the product,” he said. “We ship them to Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Europe, Canada. So we’ve been shipping them all over.”

The typewriters that come in all different colors sell from $400 to $500. Dutczak would not disclose his rental price to the film industry.

Dutczak’s business is a dying breed, but one where there is still a demand.

“In the old days, there were two or three shops in every little town like Hamilton and Lawrenceville,” he said. “They were all over like doughnut shops. But nowadays, you’re lucky to find one in 50 miles.”

The 56-year-old said most of the people in the industry were older and many have either retired, passed on or closed their shops.

That’s why on Tuesday, Dutczak received a call from a woman from Delaware to fix her IBM Wheelwriter, and some people make the two-hour drive from New York for repairs.

Dutczak will not allow Hollywood to buy his typewriters.

“We only rent them because we can’t get them no more,” he explained. “When we rent them, they want them in working order. They want them in really nice condition so that they look like they are from that time period — not something that somebody picked on the curb. So they have to be in pristine, working condition.”

About the Author

Originally from Webster, N.Y., David has been a reporter in N.J. for the past three years (first in Phillipsburg and now in Trenton).He is a Temple alum who interned at the Philadelphia Daily News. Reach the author at dfoster@trentonian.com
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